5 Tips to Increase SEO using Video

[tweetmeme source= “brennels” only_single=false]One of the misconceptions of creating video is that it will go, and I hate this word, “Viral” once you put it up on YouTube. I hate to burst your bubble but that won’t happen. But here are some tips you can use to create useful videos that will help compliment your overall efforts.

1.) One Minute Max – Don’t create an epic video, no one will watch it. I had issues at a job when we created product demos that were 15 minutes long. This is way beyond our generations short attention span. We want to be entertained and quickly. If I can’t get what you are saying in 60 seconds or less and probably closer to 15 seconds you have lost me. So, when writing a video script keep in mind that it shouldn’t be any longer than 1 minute maximum.

2.) YouTube isn’t the only game in town – There are dozens if not hundreds of multimedia sites so don’t limit your self to just YouTube. blip, Bebo, Vimeo, Hulu are all multimedia sites that allow you to upload video content.

3.) Don’t forget the keywords – Video’s by themselves my be interesting to some but are more effective if they are optimized with SEO keywords, tags and good descriptions. This will help your videos rank well in searches and YouTube I believe is still the #1 search engine but I have heard rumors that Facebook is getting closer. This will help get viewers to your brand and gain awareness.

4.) Links and Linking – Videos must be included in your SEO linking strategy. Once the video has been optimized don’t forget your goal which is to driver viewers to your website. Including links back to your website or a blog post that might be using the video is important to help leverage what you have created to increase your visits.

5.) Syndication – There are products out there like TubeMogul that allow you to update and or syndicate your videos to multiple social and multimedia websites. Again don’t limit your self to just one site. Get some assistance from products that made it easier to upload to multiple sites at once. The same goes for Social. Once the video is live, tweet it, digg it, reddit and promote on many social sites to help spread the word.

These tips may not help your video go viral but it will help you generate traffice to your website and help improve your overall SEO strategy. After writing this I realized that there are so many other things that can be done that I may write a part 2 to this. The main tip is not to limit yourself and keep in mind some best practices to generate the biggest bang.

About bracerennelsExperience assisting companies implement disruptive engagement marketing strategies to evolve community, collaboration and corporate communications. Provide strategic and executive leadership to transform traditional marketing programs into modern social engagement and improved customer experience. Currently scheduled to speak at the Argyle Executive Forum NYC Nov 5th and will entertain other speaking, advisory or consulting opportunities as time allows.